Curtain



A. O. ERNST Oct. 12, 1943.

CURTAIN INVENTOR 4 .flRm z/R QER/VST Filed April 1 WITNESS ATTORNEYSPatented Oct. 12, 1943 UNITED STATES." PATENT OFFICE CURTAIN Arthur 0.Ernst, Larchmont,N. Y. Application April 1, 1942, Serial No. 437,136

' (Cl. 160-330) I 4 Claims.

This invention relates to" improvements in ourtains and draperies,particularly curtains and draperies that are to be tied back when inuse.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved tie-back curtain ordrapery having a greater fullness and a more luxurious appearance thanthe usual type of curtain cut from the same width of fabric material.

Another object of the invention is to provide a curtain or draperyhaving improved draping qualities over the conventional type of curtainor drapery. p

A further object 'of the invention is to provide a tie-back curtain ordrapery which canb manuiactured at less cost than the conventional typeof curtain and yet will not only accomplish the same purposes as theconventional type of 'curtain but will have additional advantages.

Other objects of the invention as well as the advantages thereof willbecome more apparent after a perusal of the following description, readin connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is adiagrammatic view of a piece of fabric material illustrating the methodof making the curtain of this invention; Fig. 2 is a front view of aleft-hand curtain made in accordance with the invention; Fig. 3'is afront view of a comple-' mentary right-hand curtain; Figs. 4 and 5illustrate the form which the curtains shown in Figs. 2 and 3,respectively, take when hung on rods, and Fig. 6 shows the two curtainsin assembled condition on a rod and secured by tie-backs,

In order that a better understanding of the invention may be had, itwill be first pointed out that the conventional curtain or drapery iscut on the straight of the fabric material along lines at right anglesto the length of the fabric. Thus the usual curtain or drapery is nowider than the width of the strip of fabric material which is used inits manufacture. Furthermore, the conventional curtain tends to hangstraight and'any draping efiects which are attained therewith areaccomplished only with the aid of a tie-back which brings the curtaininto a form which is contrary to its natural straight hanging tendency.This tying back of the conventional curtain also has the tendency toeliminate the folds in the upper part of the curtain and to produce askimpy effect unless a curtain wider than necessary is used and careexercised in draping it. Also, a straight cut curtain under theinfluence of the tie-back has a tendency to travel on the curtain rodand to separate from its associated curtain, thereby not completelyhiding the curtain rod, which is an undesirable condition.

In Fig. 1 of theidrawing, the dotted lines A-B indicate the manner inwhich curtains of conventional form are cut from a length of fabricmaterial C. The full lines BD indicate the biased lines of cut utilizedin forming the curtains E and F of the instant invention from the stripof fabric C. It will be quite evident that the upper edges BD of thecurtains E and F will be substantially longer than the upper edges ofthe conventional form of curtains which are indicated by the dottedlines A-B. The lengths of the edges BD, or in other words, the widths ofthe resulting curtains E and F, will be dependent upon the angle of biasat which the curtains are cut. Thus, if a strip of fabric thirty-sixinches wide is cut at an angle from the straight so that the dotted lineA--D is twelve inches long, the resulting length of the line of out BDwill be thirty-eight inches, two inches longer than the original widthof the fabric. As the angle of cut is increased, so will the length ofline BD be correspondingly increased, for example, if A-D is eighteeninches, BD will be forty inches; if A-D is twenty-four inches, BD willbe fortythree inches; if A-D is thirty'inohes, BD will be forty-seveninches, etc. The length of the line BD, or width of the curtain desiredcan be accurately obtained from a strip or strips of fabric of a givenwidth by keeping in mind that the square of such length will be equal tothe sum of the squares of the dotted lines A-B and A-ZD.

If the curtains E and F are out from a fabric material which is similarin appearance on both sides, they are matched by arranging the edges BDthereof in opposed relation, with the ends B, B of such edges adjacentto one another, as is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing. To dothis it will be necessary to reverse curtain F. If, however, the fabricmaterial has only one face side, the left-hand curtain will be cut froma diiferent strip of the material than the other or right-hand curtainand the lines of bias cut BD of such stripswill be opposed to each otherso that the upper edges of the curtains extending from the ends B willform one leg of an acute angle and extending from the ends D of suchedges will form one leg of an obtuse angle, the other legs of suchangles being the side edges. of the curtains as will be readily apparentfrom an examination of Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing. With thisarrangement of the curtains in mind the curtains may be trimmed, linedor have ruffles G applied thereto, as is indicated in the drawing.

The curtains E and F in their flat form will have the appearanceillustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing. When these curtains arehung on a horizontal rod H, as is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 of thedrawing, it will be noted that these curtains naturally drape in heavyfolds away from the center of the frame to which they are attached andtowards the sides of the frame where they are to be tied back. When thetie-backs J, J are applied the curved folds thereabove will be naturallyand automatically formed in the curtains to produce a pleasing andartistic effect, as can be seen from Fig. 6 of the drawing.

It will be seen from the foregoing, that by reason of the bias cutformation of the instant curtains, there will be an increase in thewidth at the top of thecurtain where increased width is most desirablefor purposes of beauty. This method also has the advantage that varyingwidths of curtains may be obtained without changing the standard widthsin which the lengths of the fabrics are now made. Furthermore, widercurtains may be obtained from narrower widths of fabrics thus reducingthe cost of making the curtains to a minimum. When on a rod and tiedback, observation will not indicate any difference in style from theconventional curtain but a comparison of the two will readily reveal theimportant difl'erence of added fullness in favor of the bias cutcurtain. The bias cut curtains will properly meet to hide or cover thecurtain rod, will have an adequate fullness and a natural, artisticdraping effect, whereas the usual curtains often do not have sufllcientmaterial to hide the curtain rods unless they are oversize, have askimpy coverage and a tautness which detracts from their appearance.Furthermore, due to the substantial lack of tension on the outmost upperends of the bias cut curtains by the tie-backs, there is practically notendency of the curtains to creep or become separated on the rod, as isthe case with conventional curtains, whereby the bias cut curtains willmaintain the positions in which they have been adjusted.

While I have illustrated and described the bias cut lines B-D as beingstraight, it will be apparent to those in the art that substantiallysimilar results can be attained with lines of bias out which are curvedor are a combination of straight and curved cuts or are a combination ofstraight cuts disposed at different angles. Hence, it is within thecontemplation of the instant invention to include within its scope anylines of cut which are not straight throughout and normal to the sideedges of the fabric material from which the curtains are cut and whichresult in curtains having a greater width in their hung condition thanthe conventional type of curtain which is made with straight lines ofcut normal to the side edges of the fabric material. The curtainsillustrated and described can be modified also by providing them withlinings or otherwise trimming them or making them plain withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. It will be apparent alsothat when the curtains are to be used in wide windows, two or morewidths of fabric material which has been bias cut in accordance with theinvention can be joined together to form extra width curtains possessingthe features .and advantages above discussed. That other changes andmodifications in the curtains illustrated may be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claimswill be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

.I claim:

1. A tie-back curtain made of flexible material and comprising a bodyportion having side edges extending longitudinally of the material fromwhich such body portion was formed and having an upper edge which formsan obtuse angle with the outer edge of the curtain, whereby when thecurtain is hung from a substantially horizontal support, said bodyportion will naturally drape towards the side where it is to be tiedback.

2. A bias cut tie-back curtain made of fabric material and comprising abody portion having at least one side edge extending along warp threadsof the material and having an upper edge disposed at an obtuse angle tosaid side edge, whereby when the curtain is hung from a substantiallyhorizontal support, said body portion will naturally drape towards saidside edge.

3. A bias cut tie-back curtain made of fabric material and comprising abody portion having an upper edge and side edges, the angle between theupper edge and the outer side edge being greater than ninety degrees andthe angle between the upper edge and the inner side edge being less thanninety degrees, whereby when the curtain is hung from a substantiallyhorizontal support, said body portion will naturally drape towards saidouter side edge.

4. A tie-back curtain made of flexible material and comprising a bodyportion cut from a strip and having top and bottom edges formed bycutting the strip transverse to its length, said top and bottom edgesbeing oblique to the side edges of the body portion and having a lengthgreater than the width of the strip from which the body portion was cut,whereby when the curtain is hung, said body portion will naturally drapetowards one of the side edges thereof.

ARTHUR O. ERNST.

